Articles by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Authorities dismiss top management at Studio B television
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 30 September 1997, after ousting the opposition mayor of Belgrade, Zoran Djindjic, from office, the combined forces of the Serbian Socialists, Radicals and the Renewal Movement moved to sack the top management at the popular municipal television station Studio B TV and replace them with their own supporters. Zoran Ostojic and Lila […]
Journalist Rysbek Omurzakov sentenced to three years in prison
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 29 September 1997, a district court in Bishkek sentenced Rysbek Omurzakov, a reporter for the opposition weekly “Res Publika”, to three years in prison for libelling the manager of a state-owned factory. The ruling makes Kyrgyzstan the only country in Europe and the former Soviet Union to have sent a journalist to […]
Bomb explosion at offices of “Alternativa” newspaper
(CPJ/IFEX) – An explosion in the late evening of 27 September 1997 destroyed the editorial offices of “Alternativa”, the only alternative newspaper in the Bosnian Serb town of Doboj. Although no one was injured by the blast, the newspaper’s offices were destroyed and several adjacent apartments were damaged. A fire broke out and threatened to […]
CNN reporter and film crew briefly detained; Taliban place restrictions on foreign media
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 29 September 1997, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs Emma Bonino, eighteen other European Union (EU) workers and journalists, including Christiane Amanpour of the Cable News Network (CNN), and a CNN film crew were detained for three-and-a-half hours by Taliban police in Kabul. According to an Associated Press (AP) report citing sources in […]
Authorities refuse to grant press cards to journalists from “Challenge” and “Al-Sabar” magazines; Palestinian journalist harassed and assaulted by Israeli soldier
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 16 February 1997, the Governmental Press Office (GPO) informed the English-language bi-monthly magazine “Challenge” and its sister publication, the bi-weekly Arabic-language magazine “Al-Sabar”, that their request for seven press cards for staff reporters, filed in December 1996, was denied. Among the reasons cited by the GPO for its decision was the fact […]
Report on press freedom in Hong Kong is released by CPJ
(CPJ/IFEX) – Although on the surface little seems to have changed, the “climate of free expression in Hong Kong has shifted in subtle but distinct ways,” says the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in a report released on 24 September 1997 on press freedom in the former British colony. “In the vibrant Hong Kong press, […]
Police raid and occupy offices of newspaper
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 27 August 1997, police and private security forces raided the Lahore office of “Pakistan”, an independent Urdu-language daily. According to reports from Pakistan, the newspaper office was raided by Punjab police who continue to occupy the building. The police action is apparently related to a civil financial dispute between Akbar Ali Bhatti, […]
Free press vital to economic development in Asia and emerging markets elsewhere in the world, say participants in CPJ forum
(CPJ/IFEX) – The continued vitality of Hong Kong as an international financial centre will depend on an unhindered free press, United States of America Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers told a public forum on 23 September 1997, held in conjunction with the World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Hong Kong. “Hong Kong has […]